Cabelo's Retrospective Features Yanomami Shaman Davi Kopenawa in Rio de Janeiro

Artist Cabelo presented his retrospective "Luz com Trevas" at the Espaço Cultural BNDES in Rio de Janeiro from March to May. The exhibition, curated by Lisette Lagnado and described as an "anti-exposição," showcased two decades of his work, integrating pop and Afro-Amerindian cultures in an immersive environment reminiscent of Hélio Oiticica's penetrables. On April 19, Cabelo hosted a conversation with Yanomami leader and shaman Davi Kopenawa before an audience of over 300 people. Cabelo argued that art's original role paralleled that of the shaman, a function lost in contemporary society. He recounted a personal story from 1992 at the same BNDES building during the World Environment Conference, where he participated in a yãkõana inhalation ceremony and later discovered Kopenawa was the shaman who embraced him. Kopenawa spoke for over an hour about the threats facing forest peoples, particularly from miners, and the Yanomami's role in resisting and preserving the Amazon. He emphasized that "pajé work is to protect, preserve mother earth" and identified himself as Yanomami, not "índio." The exhibition featured projections throughout the space, creating a disorienting experience without clear narrative sequence.